Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu, born 23 June) is Sega's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic hedgehog born with the ability to run faster than the speed of sound, hence his name, and possesses lightning fast reflexes to match. As his species implies, Sonic can also roll up into a concussive ball, primarily to attack enemies. Ever since stepping into the battle against iniquity, Sonic has been the champion of peace and is renowned all over the world for saving it countless times. During his many adventures, Sonic has traveled from the ends of the world to the far reaches of space and time, facing countless trials that have tested him to the fullest, earning him many titles, allies and the scorns of several foes. Well-known for his legendary cocky attitude, easy-going demeanor and somewhat short temper, yet strong sense of justice, compassion, and love for freedom and adventure, Sonic uses his abilities to protect the innocent from his world and those beyond from the forces of evil, especially his arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman. Concept and creation While several people have been involved in the creation of Sonic, the artist Naoto Ohshima, programmer Yuji Naka and designer Hirokazu Yasuhara are generally credited with the creation of the character. In April 1990, Sega requested a game capable of selling more than 1,000,000 copies; a character who could compete against Nintendo's Super Mario, and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research and development department. These included an armadillo (who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, a Theodore Roosevelt look-alike in pajamas (who was later used as the basis of the design of the main antagonist Dr. Eggman) and a rabbit (who would use its extendable ears to collect objects, an idea that was later used for a separate Sega character named Ristar). Eventually, the mascot they selected was Naoto Ohshima's submission, a spiky teal hedgehog codenamed "Mr. Needlemouse," later renamed Sonic. Initial ideas for names for Sonic included "Raisupi" and "LS", truncation and plays on the word "light speed". Sonic's color was based on the Sega logo, his shoe buckles based on Michael Jackson, his shoe color based on Santa Claus, and his personality was inspired by future-President Bill Clinton's "get it done" attitude, whom Ōhshima felt embodied a modern sensibility of wanting to get things done right away, righting wrongs as they presented themselves instead of letting them linger. According to Yuji Naka, Sonic's color also serves to symbolize peace, trust, and coolness (which are the attributes of Sonic's character). His trademark speed is based on Super Mario Bros.''World 1-1, with Sonic creator Yuji Naka stating in issue 260 of Nintendo Power that ''"I always tried to get through the level as fast as I could," which inspired the initial concept for Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was created without the ability to swim because of a mistaken assumption by Yuji Naka that all hedgehogs could not do so. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog and renamed themselves Sonic Team. The game's soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True. Sega sponsored the group's "Wonder 3" tour, painting Sonic on the tour bus, distributing pamphlets advertising the game, and having footage of the game broadcast above stage prior to its release. The original concepts gave Sonic fangs and put him in a band with a human girlfriend named Madonna. However, a team from Sega of America, led by Madeline Schroeder, "softened" the character up for an American audience by removing these elements. This sparked a heated issue with Sonic Team. Naka later admitted it was probably for the best. Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style in which he is drawn. In the video games, Sonic's original design by Naoto Ohshima was with short spikes, a round body, and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. When Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive appeared, Sonic's proportions changed. The original 1:2 head to height ratio changed to 1:2.5. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a 15-year-old character, with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spikes, and emerald-green-colored eyes. Sonic was also purposefully made more of a “bad boy” for Sonic Adventure, so that his character did not become too cutesy like so many other character mascots (Yuji Naka stated that Hello Kitty already owned the market in cuteness). Further changes to the character's design were made in subsequent games, namely in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Unleashed, adding visible fur, a more realistic design for a human world, and making him a bit lankier. Appearance Sonic is a thin anthropomorphic hedgehog with blue fur that covers most of his body, peach skin that covers his arms, muzzle and front torso, and emerald-green eyes. He has six long quills on the back of his head, two spines protruding from his back behind his shoulders, and a short tail. For attire, Sonic wears two light-weight, hyper friction resistant red sneakers with white cuffs around the ankles, gray soles, and white straps across the top, the last of which are held down by a golden buckle on each foot. He also wears a pair of white gloves with sock-like cuffs on his hands. Personality Sonic is said to be "like the wind"; a drifter that is always on the move and is noted for being free-spirited and adventurous. He values freedom above all else and strives to live his life according to his own rules rather than the standards of those around him or for the sake of heroism and duty, never thinking twice about what other people say or think. Born to run, Sonic enjoys nothing more than traveling the world. Endowed with a strong passion for enjoying life, he is never in one place for long and always moves forward to look for his next challenge, making his life a never-ending series of adventures. Because of his need for freedom, Sonic loathes the idea of being constrained and being cooped up for too long makes him twitchy and restless. Sonic's demeanor is always easygoing, cool, and carefree. However, he is often impatient, hates boredom, and at times possesses a short temper. Because of his impulsive nature, Sonic can be reckless and quick to act before thinking, throwing himself into trouble without a second thought and regards for others' warnings. Nevertheless, he is honest and always keeps his promises. Sonic's personality is a juxtaposition of kindness and ferocity. He is extremely benevolent, driven by his own strong sense of justice and fair play and firmly stands for truth and freedom. However, he is never the one to rest in the face of injustice or oppression. He hates lies and evil in all its forms, exploding with anger when witnessing anything unjust and will do all he can to snuff it out, throwing his life on the line without hesitation. However, he usually sees his heroics as an opportunity to have fun, making him a thrill-seeker. To Sonic, saving the world is no big feat and just another thrilling episode in his life. When he finds himself in a pinch, he acts as though nothing can stop him. In times of crisis, though, he is aggressive and focuses intensely on the task at hand as if his personality has undergone an astonishing change. At the same time, Sonic has a big and kind heart and is fully committed to helping out anyone in need at any time, even if it means getting himself into trouble or being despised by others. Sonic has a lot of self-confidence and possesses an enormous ego to match it, making him sassy, quick-witted, cocky, and at times overconfident. No matter the threat or how dangerous, Sonic always remains cool under pressure. In the original Japanese version, Sonic omits honorifics and speaks informally (if not rudely), using "ore" instead of "I''" when addressing himself or others ("''ore" is a boastful way to say "I''" in Japanese). However, he sometimes uses honorifics when addressing close friends or acquaintances. Possessing a narcissistic tongue and big attitude, he often jokes around to light the mood and will also take any opportunity to taunt his opponents. Being so smug, he has developed a habit of talking to mindless robots, even when he knows they cannot hear him. Despite this, he can be quite the gentleman when he wants to and be modest with fancy titles. Also, while Sonic generally assumes he can deal with things on his own, he also realizes he has friends to back him up in troubled situations and believes strongly in teamwork. Owing to his smugness and confidence, he often engages in playful banter with his enemies, such as his asking Infinite, as "optional" questions to glean into what the secret behind the latter's powers were, what the latter's favorite color was and whether he liked long romantic walks on the beach, as well as "asking" a Zavok replica if he would let Sonic join a party occurring on the Death Egg (referring to the commotion resulting from the Resistance's infiltration of the area). Following his free-spirited nature, Sonic never dwells on the past or allows his painful experiences to weight him down. Instead, he lives in the present and always looks forward to his next adventure, holding no regrets for what has transpired. It is only in the moments of greatest loss that his macho and carefree appearance falls away. Sonic is also of incredibly strong character and will: No matter the situation, he never doubts himself or gives up, never once submitting to the darkness in his heart. Sonic is extremely loyal to his friends and will risk his life for them without any due consideration. While he can leave them hanging, act rude towards them, or endanger them due to his fast-paced nature, Sonic never intends to make his friends unhappy and values them above all else, treating each of them as the most important person in his life. Equally, Sonic will always accept help from his friends and show great trust in them, though he is not above making mistrusting assumptions of them. Regardless of the many foes he has faced, Sonic rarely considers them true enemies and instead tends to admire them for how powerful some of them are and how much fun they can give to him. Likewise, he is shown to have a remarkable capacity to forgive, forgiving Silver and working with him after he had tried to kill him twice. Despite his outward demeanor, Sonic has shown to be much more insightful than he usually lets on, capable of seeing things others would have overlooked and give valuable and comforting advice that drastically changes the outlook of others, such as in the case of Elise, Merlina, and Blaze. This insight, combined with a charismatic personality, allows Sonic to get along with virtually anyone he meets, even if they were his enemies at one point. Sonic has a fondness of the beauty of nature and he stands as a protector of it. He appreciates scenic views as seen in ''Sonic Colors and showed anger and rage when he found out that Eggman was polluting Planet Wisp's beautiful environment. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic is also shown to have a fondness for locations that are filled with flowers, trees, and other kinds of plants. Ironically, despite his inability to swim, Sonic also loves going to the ocean. Sonic has been shown to enjoy music, but seems to have a special interest in rock music. Furthermore, it is displayed in Sonic Rush that Sonic also enjoys break dancing, which is reflected in his Trick Actions. His battle moves in ''Sonic Battle ''are also based on break dancing as mentioned in the attack descriptions. He also breakdances in numerous games, usually when he is victorious. He also tends to get irritated when his enemies often misidentify his species, namely by calling him a rat, making him correct them and state his actual species is a hedgehog. This was best demonstrated with his encounters with Erazor Djinn, and to a lesser extent with his encounter with Infinite at Mystic Jungle. Creepypasta * Sonic.exe Friends * Son Heung-Min Gallery Sonic's Korea flag.jpeg|South Korean kit by Sonic Sonic vs Heung-Min.jpeg|Son vs Sonic Sonic's Seoul.jpeg|Sonic in Seoul. 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